Cold

Spanish youth
volunteers

No one can fathom why it was so cold yesterday. The weather bureau said it was 10 degrees. And there was no wind, though it was cloudy. Yet it felt like zero degrees. If anyone had dared not to wear winter clothes, yesterday was definitely the day they all wore it. Shawl, scarves, woolen hats, down jackets .... everything was worn. And the forecast is for rain the next few days. Actually most of us are hoping for snow ... though I hate shoveling snow from our terrace. A light snow would be fine. It would make Christmas complete.

Mind you it feels so cold in the night, even when I have 2 heaters on and a down blanket to cover, I still shiver and cannot sleep. Yesterday afternoon felt the same. I had 2 woolen pullovers on but I was still shivering. I had given away alot of my clothes to the poor so now I'll have to improvise with whatever I've got to stay warm.

Yesterday morning I was rather pleased because I brought lots of clothes and food to the MC convent in Bethlehem where the sisters care for some 13 abandoned and handicapped men. Our sisters in the kitchen had cooked some very good food but no one was home to eat it so instead of going to waste, I was told to bring it to the MC convent.  It was good to see those men eat extra treats. And the medicines I brought were exactly what the sisters wanted.

But the best surprise was to find a group of 4 spanish youths who spent their Christmas week doing volunteer service at the home. They washed the windows and kept the place clean. And they came for Mass as well. It's good to see young people still having a sense of responsibility, and concern for the poor. God bless them. Let's hope more youths will come and do the same. The sisters are not young and they appreciate as much help has they can get.

I had been out of the house for the past few days because of work so I had little time with Buddy and JJ. They would wake up at night when I come home and try to stay as close to me as possible. For the first few hours, they would sleep with me in bed. Then they'd wake up and fly back to their perch. Yesterday afternoon I decided to spend a few more hours with them and they wouldn't leave me. Buddy is much more mature ... 3 yrs now ... and would sit quietly and nibble my ears. But JJ is very playful and cannot stop waddling everywhere to play. I hope he'll outgrow this stage.